I sing, therefore I am: when music and philosophy intertwine

Let's turn our thoughts to the graduates of 2018, likely pondering their next step and examining their own philosophy. Philosophy, which consists to question the world around us, is everywhere and first and foremost, in songs. Unconvinced? Here are some examples that, willingly or not, are worth reflection.

From Socrates to the Who: self-knowledge

Philosophers tend to first look inside themselves rather than outwards to others in an effort to better understand what is. Self-knowledge places man as subject and the object at the same time. The question itself can be found in a quote from St. Augustine: "do not go outward; return within yourself. In the inward man dwells truth" or in the famous Socratic citation "know thyself." Musically speaking, The Who lend their stage name to immediate reflection along with their 1978 hit "Who Are You." This theme can be found more recently in "Know Who You Are" in Disney's film, Moana.

From Aristotle to the Rolling Stones: desire and necessity

In the song "You Can’t Always Get What You Want," The Rolling Stones may make be lightly referencing certain illegal substances, but the true meaning is much deeper. The song analyzes the confrontation between desire and necessity, a factor of "frustration," which is directly cited in the lyrics. But if the title alone deplores the fact that desire often comes up against the constraints of life, the rest of the refrain tempers this assertion: "But if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need." This brings us to the rational, thoughtful desire formulated for example by Aristotle.

From Stoics to Hank Williams: love

A terrible point of contention throughout the ages between philosophers is love and passion. They can be perceived as inherent in the greatness of acts, like Hegel who said that "nothing great has ever been accomplished in the world without passion," while others, like the stoics think that love must be regulated by reason. The danger of feeling in love finds an echo in songs like "Lovesick Blues" by Hank Williams, Sr.

From Kierkegaard to Arcade Fire: Reflection

The influence of the myth of Orpheus (a talented musician who descends to the underworld to bring back his wife Eurydice to the world of the living), is obvious on the album Reflektor from the rock group Arcade Fire, due to the album’s cover image and from the name of two songs that appear on the album "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)" and "It's Never Over (Orpheus)." The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard is also at the center of its inspiration. It was the gorup's singer Win Butler who revealed it, explaining that the album was the result of his reading of the essay "The Present Age" from which he draws an opposition between reflection and action.

Published on: June 10, 2018